Outdoor Christmas decorations are a great way to get your home into the festive spirit. Whether you’re using simple icicle string lights or hanging silhouette lights, decorating your home can create a beautiful effect. This is especially true if several homes in your street are also decorating the outside of your properties.
However, when decorating your home it’s important to be sure that your decorations are safe and correctly installed. It’s easy to damage your home’s guttering, roofline or brickwork when hanging Christmas decorations. We’ve put together 4 tips to help you safely put up your outdoor Christmas decorations and protect your home.
1. Plan and measure the spaces
Before you start hanging any Christmas lights, it’s essential that you measure the spaces that you’ve got to cover. After you’ve got accurate measurements, you can begin to plan out which lights you’re going to hang on which areas.
Remember that different types of lights work better in different areas. Consider using string lights around rooflines and windows to create a framing effect. If you’ve got larger areas of blank wall, these are good places for feature silhouette lights.
2. Work out your electrical routes
You’ll need to work out which sockets are going to be closest to the light strings, as you want to avoid daisy-chaining extensions. If you’ve got external plug sockets, use these along with high-quality outdoor extension leads. It’s vital that you use externally rated extension cables for your Christmas decorations.
Try and protect your electrical routes from the elements as much as possible by running them under the eaves. If you’re using internal plug sockets, make sure that you plan which access point you’re going to use to pass the extension lead back into the home.
3. Use appropriate methods to fix the lights
It’s very common that people don’t use suitable methods of fixing lights to their property, and end up damaging their guttering or roofline systems. Gutter hooks are inexpensive, and a great way to safely hang lights from your home’s roofline. Avoid screwing things into your guttering or soffits and fascias, as you may damage them and you could end up with a hefty repair bill.
Using appropriate methods to fix your Christmas lights will make sure that you don’t damage your property.
4. Be careful not to hang too much weight
You should always be careful that you’re not hanging too much weight from clips or screws. If these have too much weight hanging from them, they can break or start to pull the guttering or brickwork and cause damage.
Avoid hanging multiple decorations from the same clips or screws. It’s easy to end up putting too much weight on these when you’re hanging several strings of lights.
So, now you know how to safely put up your outdoor Christmas decorations. Let us know @Quotatis if you’ve got any other tips on how best to install outdoor decorations!